O'Hara ends senior year at Nationals

Olivia O'Hara wrapped up her high school track career in North Carolina competing in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor on Friday.

Keith Pearson kpearson@wickedlocal.com

When recent Walpole High graduate Olivia O’Hara fashioned a triple jump of 36 feet, 2 3/4 inches at the MSTCA Coaches’ Invitational at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville, she soared nearly a foot farther than she ever had before and put her in second place in school history. It placed her third on May 10, but more importantly surpassed the required mark of 36-0 to qualify for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the Emerging Elite category.

She got her shot on Friday and finished 31st among 40 competitors with the best of her three jumps at 34-11 1/4.

While the length of her jump was not among her best this year, it was still an experience she will not soon forget.

"It has always been my long term goal since sophomore year when I started track to qualify for Nationals," O’Hara said. "It was a little intimidating being in the arena and competing with some of the top track and field athletes in the nation, but it was so exciting, really fun and quite the experience."

Just how good were the athletes she was competing against? Abby Stultz of Frederick, Maryland, won the Emerging Elite grouping at 38-5 1/2 while Keturah Orji of Budd Lake, New Jersey, won the Championship flight at 43-0 1/2.

On her first attempt, O’Hara was able to put down a jump of 33-8. She then fouled on her second attempt.

"I'm not sure how far my second jump was that I fouled since they didn't measure it and raked the sand before I could even estimate, but it definitely felt better than my first jump," she said. "Competing without a coach was a bit difficult because (Walpole boys coach Kevin) Butera usually gives me corrections and tells me where to move my steps after every jump so that I don't foul, but it was a good learning process."

She managed to make enough corrections on her own to go more than a foot farther than her initial jump, moving up four places to finish 31st.

O’Hara, the Bay State Conference champion, was named a conference all-star and was named the Walpole High Outstanding Field Award, given to the top performer in field events. She finished with a team-high 84 points, 30 more than anyone else on the squad.

"She is a humble leader who will be greatly missed by our program," said Walpole girls coach Conor Cashman. "Thankfully, we look forward to seeing her grow and compete as a college athlete."

She will be continuing her track career at the Division I level at Loyola College in Baltimore and in addition to the triple jump and long jump, she will be participating in the sprinting workouts hoping to build up her speed for jumping, but also for a chance to crack the sprinting lineup.

O’Hara said she will be a member of the Army ROTC while at Loyola, where she will be a biology major on a pre-med track.

"It has always been my dream to graduate as a military officer and serve as an officer in the Army after graduation," she said.

While this was her third on the outdoor track team, her senior year was her only on the indoor squad, having been one of the top gymnasts in the school.

"I decided around November that I wanted to compete in track and field in college rather than gymnastics, so it made sense and that I get at least one season of indoor track under my belt to prepare for college track," said O’Hara, noting that some college coaches requested it. "My indoor season was a little rough at first adjusting to the different events, but it definitely helped me a lot in long jump. The last two years I came into spring track season with no preparation, just my gymnastics training, so having done indoor I was more prepared, conditioned and ready to go by the time spring season came around."

That preparation showed as her best outdoor long jump was 16-8 and her second- and third-best triple jumps of the season, both eclipsing the 35-foot mark, all came before the vacation break in April.